The Weirdest Photo Research of 2013

March 16, 1960. This suit built by the Republic Aviation Corporation solved the problem of what “the well-dressed man” would “wear for a stroll over the airless moonscape.” An article in the New York Times promised that the outfit would have its own oxygen supply and that its tripod legs would “enable its wearer to rest by sitting on a perch inside.” The wrench hands were presumably for securing loose screws. Photograph by Sam Falk/The New York Times/Redux.

As a photo editor for newyorker.com, I do daily research that largely consists of sifting through images to accompany our news and culture stories. Additionally, typically once a day, I am presented with a more conceptual article—one on, say, the threat of artificial intelligence, which may not immediately bring any particular image to mind. Though frustrating at times, mining photo archives while working on this sort of article brings steady rewards: dated, eccentric images from bygone eras that are estranged from the customs of modern-day life. (My former colleague James Pomerantz wrote about similar photographs last year.) From a space suit that “solves the problem of what the well-dressed man would wear for a stroll over the airless moonscape” to conjoined sweaters sewn for couples that promise to be “the newest fad to sweep the country,” here’s a look at the most eccentric, and, above all, most comical photographs I’ve found this year, accompanied by their original captions.

The ace pilot leading Virgin Galactic’s billion-dollar quest to make commercial space travel a reality.

Asian-Americans, a largely made-up group united by historical marginalization, are desperate for a movie like this one to be perfect, because the opportunity to make another might not arrive for another quarter century.